Lime Deposit Revenue Would Pay For MIA Cost Overruns

A small airport in south Florida has been sacrificed in the name of a larger one. That's a common story in aviation... but how officials with the Miami-Dade Aviation Department (MDAD) plan to benefit from the destruction of the Opa-locka West Airport (X46) is certainly different.

Aero-News reported on the plight of Opa-locka West last May. At that time, MDAD was pushing to permanently close the small airfield -- damage from Hurricane Wilma had already closed the field to almost all flight operations -- so an enviromental study could be conducted to ascertain just how much lime rock could be mined from the site. Officials planned to sell the rock, to offset at least part of over $1 billion in cost overruns for the ongoing expansion at Miami International Airport.

The Miami Herald reports county officials believe there could be over 61 million tons of lime underneath the airport site -- with much of it of a premium grade. That translates to an estimated $300 million to $500 million the county could pocket over the next 20 years.

Last year, MDAD petitioned the FAA to close the small field. The agency complied... and today, X46 sees almost no activity, outside of the occasional drag race, model airplane, or ultralight. Officials with the aviation board note that fact when hawking their plans to mine the field.

"This is an airport that had no to little activity each day, and clearly there's an opportunity to make use out of it," said MDAD official Miguel Southwell, who handles Opa-locka West.

The mining plan has critics -- and not just from local flyers, protesting the closure of their field. The Everglades Defense Council says MDAD's intent to mine Opa-locka West could increase threats to area drinking water and wildlife.

"How is the public served by paying off overruns?" asks council director Alan Farago. "It seems to be trading one public calamity for another."

Pending legal action also makes the proposal to mine the site somewhat problematic. Last year, Senior US District Judge William Hoeveler ruled federal regulators had done a poor job assessing the risk from mining the field on the Everglades... as well as the potential impact on an endangered bird species, and the area's largest watershed. That review, conducted by the US Army Corps of Engineers, is set to be completed by the end of 2007.

With the field closed, state DOT officials have filed applications to dig up the runways, as well as over 400 acres of surrounding wetlands. The FAA also would need to sign off on the plan, according to the Herald, before final approval is granted by the County Commission.

"If we get a significant amount of revenue from that, it's a good idea," said County Commissioner Carlos Gimenez, who chairs a panel endorsing the mining study.

Aviation officials say the county doesn't need Opa-locka West. Three other airports are nearby, Southwell says, that can handle any traffic displaced by the closure of X46.

"The county has an overabundance of general aviation airports that are underutilized and subsidized by Miami International," Southwell says -- hinting it's time for one of those GA airports to pay the piper.

FMI: www.miami-airport.com